By Roger Wallenstein

“It was the mecca of stadiums,” said my boyhood friend Tim Russell.
No, he wasn’t talking about the original Yankee Stadium or even old Comiskey. We were talking about Thillens Stadium at the corner of Devon and Kedzie, where the landmark baseball sign was recently removed.
As documented in the local media, the Thillens family, which gave up operation of the facility to the Park District eight years ago, severed all connection to the park when the rusting sign disappeared from the corner.
Apparently the Thillenses – they’re the guys with the armored trucks who compete with Brinks to ferry cash from here to who knows where – have been annoyed because of the deteriorating condition of the hallowed ground bearing their name.
Unlike my pal Tim, I never played at Thillens, but I saw a number of Little League games there in the 1950s. And I never had to leave home to do it because WGN carried live Monday night telecasts of the games with none other than Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Brickhouse describing the action.

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Posted on June 28, 2013

By Dan O’Shea

The MLB trade deadline is a little over a month away, so it’s time to start thinking about whether some of your fantasy players will find new homes in the real world, and how that will affect their value.
Here are a few names generating trade buzz, and what could change if the deals get done:

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Posted on June 26, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

And broadcast buffoons.

Dumb-dumb journalism: “Express how you’re feeling right now.” Well, I just won the fucking Stanley Cup, how do you think I’m feeling?

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 25, 2013

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Posted on June 25, 2013

By Jim Coffman

And then Dave Bolland brought out the beer.
At this point he was a king in his castle. The man nicknamed “The Rat” had come through what was for him an up and down series that most would have readily acknowledged was more down than up.
Bolland had struggled to match up with Boston’s best, piling up more penalties than points. The man who had spent plenty of time during the last several seasons centering leading lines with wingers like Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp found himself demoted to the Hawks’ third if not fourth group of forwards on Monday night.
But when it mattered most, he scored a historic goal, capping off the Hawks’ miracle comeback by knocking in a rebound with a little less than a minute left in regulation to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

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Posted on June 25, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Sweeney Finding His Groove As Everyday Player” says just about all there is to say about the current state of the Cubs.
First, he’s Ryan Sweeney.
Second, he’s only getting playing time because David DeJesus got hurt.
Third, he’s only on the Cubs because the Red Sox didn’t add him to their 40-man roster coming out of spring training.

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Posted on June 24, 2013

By Roger Wallenstein

The ball was hit fairly hard, but Alexei Ramirez still had time to get into position to field the bouncer off the bat of Alcides Escobar. Getting a force at second base would end the Royals’ eighth-inning threat and preserve a victory – and a three-game sweep over Kansas City – for the stumbling White Sox.
Sorry, folks. This is 2013, and what used to be more or less routine has presented unprecedented challenges for this season’s edition of the White Stockings. If you watched yesterday, Ramirez let the ball go through him into left field, two runs scored, and the Sox lost again 7-6.
Ramirez made 12 errors last season in 158 games. Yesterday’s blunder matched that total, and we’re still three weeks away from the All-Star game.

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Posted on June 24, 2013

Dazed But Definitely Not Confused

“Patrick Kane used his quick hands to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a two-goal lead and Corey Crawford did his part by stonewalling the Boston Bruins three days after taking heat for actually being on the winning side of a rare offensive barrage in the Stanley Cup Final,” Dan Rosen writes for NHL.com.
“It all added up to the Blackhawks earning the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup on the road for the second time in 36 months.
“Kane scored his eighth and ninth goals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Crawford had a bounce-back performance with 24 saves Saturday night as Chicago held on to beat the Bruins 3-1 in Game 5 at United Center to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.
“The Blackhawks can lift the Stanley Cup in Boston on Monday, when Game 6 is scheduled for TD Garden. They won the championship on the road in 2010 on Kane’s Game 6 overtime winner after they beat the Philadelphia Flyers at home in Game 5.”
Kane’s first goal on Saturday night.

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Posted on June 23, 2013

One Perfect Fit, And Toews, Kane And Bickell Is It

“Losing their balance in the Stanley Cup finals, the Chicago Blackhawks righted themselves Wednesday night with a 6-5 overtime victory in a wild Game 4 that they almost frittered away,” Jeff Z. Klein writes for the New York Times.
“The Blackhawks tied the series by reverting to what they do best, even though it was hardly a masterpiece and they blew a pair of two-goal leads.
“They played a wide-open game and broke through the Bruins’ neutral-zone blockade. They got another clutch overtime goal from defenseman Brent Seabrook, whose overtime goal in Game 7 beat the Detroit Red Wings in the second round. And Coach Joel Quenneville reunited his stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for the first time in this series.
“Toews and Kane each scored a goal, the first of the series for both of them. Along with their linemate, Bryan Bickell, they combined for 11 shots on goal. They were all on the ice for Seabrook’s winner at 9 minutes 51 seconds of overtime that was assisted on by Kane and Bickell, with a screen provided by Toews. Kane and Toews finished at plus-2 each, and Bickell finished at plus-3.”
Kane was mic’d up for it.

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Posted on June 20, 2013

By Dan O’Shea

A disturbingly large number of star players are currently on the disabled list or have been on and off the DL all season.
And having a player drafted in the first- or second-round out of the lineup for weeks, or in some cases, months, is a sure way to land in the bottom half of the fantasy baseball standings.
Here’s a brief list of stars with scars, and what we can expect for the rest of the season:

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Posted on June 19, 2013

By Jim Coffman

It could be worse.
But for a highly unusual two-goal rally in the third period of Game 1, the Hawks could be trailing the Bruins 3-0. Instead they are down 2-1 after losing their fourth straight Game 3 (!) in these playoffs.
Through three games, the Bruins are simply better.
What happens the vast majority of times this Bruins team gets a lead was on display last night. The Hawks generated some scoring chances in the third period (how did Bryan Bickell’s shot in the last minute not go off the post and in?) but not nearly enough. And Tuukka Rask and the best defensive corps in hockey put the finishing touches on a 2-0 victory, Rask’s third shutout of the playoffs.
“The Bruins are playing better defense than the 2003-04 Patriots,” Dan Shaughnessy writes in the Boston Globe.

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Posted on June 18, 2013